Page 10 of Reckoning with the Cowboy
Max had been smart enough not to take his stepfather’s pickup after they’d dumped his body. They’d abandoned the truck and walked for miles, afraid even to hitchhike until they were out of Wyoming. But after that, they’d thought they were safe. Until now.
He thought of all the ways a man obsessed with vengeance could have continued to search for them while in prison with too much time on his hands. Max let out a bitter laugh as he realized that they’d put targets on their backs thinking Grimes was dead. Now the man could be headed for Dry Gulch. Hell, he thought, the man could already be here.
Standing, Max looked out at the main street as if he wouldn’t have been surprised to see him standing on the sidewalk out front.
“You want me to get our prisoner dinner?” his deputy asked, startling him.
“No, I’ll take care of it.” Max had to see Goldie. For eighteen years, Max had kept his and Cordell’s past a close-held secret. Not that he’d tell Goldie about any of this now. He couldn’t help the shame and embarrassment he felt, for his mother, himself and his brother. No one could understand what their childhoods had been like, nor did he want them to try.
Yet people kept wondering why he hadn’t married her and started a family. They didn’t know how dark his past was. Ashamed of that time, Max had never wanted anyone to know what Grimes had done to them. Nor could he have proved Grimes had killed their mother and gotten rid of her body. He’d been a kid, helpless to do anything but try to survive. He’d felt he had no options even after that night. Go to the law in Montana back when he was seventeen? How could he when he couldn’t prove any of it. Not to mention, at the time he believed he’d killed Grimes.
Max realized that he still had no options. Grimes had been released. He hadn’t threatened either Max or Cordell. Yet. The only way to prove just how dangerous Grimes was would mean that one or both of them were already dead.
All Max could do was wait. But as he did, he had to ask himself: How far was he prepared to go to protect himself and his brother as well as this quiet little town he called home—and the woman he loved?
He already knew the answer. It was why his brother hadn’t come back just to warn him. Cordell knew they were in this together—just as they’d been as kids. They both knew how this would end.
CHAPTER SIX
Max couldn’t get the image of Grimes out of his mind. Cordell was right. Grimes had looked as terrifying as he remembered. Was there any doubt he was on his way to Montana—or what he planned to do when he got here?
Max sighed and headed for the cellblock. He’d made a point of giving Cordell some time to himself after Josie left. One look at his brother, though, and there was no doubt that seeing his old flame after all this time had hit him hard. Max had never understood how Cordell could have walked away from everything good in his life, this town, his brother, let alone Josie—the best thing that had ever happened to him. He couldn’t imagine what it had taken Cordell to do that—let alone come back now.
He suspected, though, that Cordell had thought he was doing what was best for everyone. That, at least, Max could understand. His brother hadn’t been ready to commit to anything, let alone anyone, even Josie.
After Cordell had left Dry Gulch six years ago, Max had been shaken, afraid the solid ground they’d found here wasn’t as solid as he’d thought. He was sure that was why he’d picked a fight with Goldie and tried to break it off then, thinking his brother was right. How could either he or his brother get serious about anyone and not tell them the truth?
Goldie had listened patiently to all the reasons they couldn’t be together and seemed to take the breakup well enough. Then three days later, she’d cornered him and told him that everything he’d said was pure bull.
“I’m not going anywhere, Max Lander, and one day you’re going to marry me.”
He’d tried to argue, but she wouldn’t hear it.
“I love you and nothing can change that,” she’d said. “At least you didn’t leave town like your brother. But he’ll be back. I have no idea what the two of you are so afraid of, but I’m sticking by you whether you like it or not.”
A week later, she’d stopped by his place with a piece of his favorite pie. A week after that, she’d brought over a stray dog she’d found and asked him to just take care of it until she could find a place to live that allowed dogs.
By the end of that month, she and the dog were living at his place. He couldn’t even say exactly how it had happened, yet he hadn’t tried to push her away again. But nor had he asked her to marry him.
There had been moments, though, when he’d wanted to so badly to give her the one thing he knew they both wanted. But marriage and a family were the two things he had feared he couldn’t offer. How could he give her that knowing that his life since seventeen had been a lie—let alone what he’d done before showing up in Dry Gulch.
Now looking at his brother, he still didn’t want to believe that Grimes was alive. It felt surreal, a nightmare in the harsh light of day. Worse, he didn’t know what he was going to do about it. Hadn’t he always known that if the man had lived, he would come after them with blood in his eye?
Goldie couldn’t be around when that happened. Neither could Josie. If Grimes even thought that he and Cordell had women they cared about, he’d make them his targets.
His brother looked as bad as Max felt. “You didn’t tell her, did you?”
Cordell shook his head. “Josie wasn’t interested in anything I had to say.”
“I figured it might be rough seeing her.”
“I’ve been through worse,” his brother said but Max didn’t buy it.
“I’m glad you didn’t say anything to her about Grimes. We need to talk about that, but first I’m going to go get your dinner. You cozy enough?”
“Like a bug in a rug. Max, we may not have much time.”
He nodded, feeling the clock ticking. “You need to stay put for now.” He started to turn to leave, but his brother’s words stopped him.
